Tragedy of Life
by dragosaurus
Summary: When Raptor Red's parents die, the pack must stay together no matter what, no matter why, no matter how death tears them apart.
1. Mother and Father

**I own nothing.**

**X_X_X_X**

The night was calm and the quiet snores of a raptor pack lay under the trees. A slight scuffling is heard in the bushes ahead of them and Red opens her eyes, staring. She hasn't felt very tired tonight, and her sister was snoring pretty loudly. One of her brothers kicked her with his hindclaw, and she got too annoyed to sleep. She got up to walk near the edge of the nest and plopped down next to her mother and parallel to her father.

It has been five weeks since hatching, and Red remembers it well. She struggled and pushed through her egg plated prison and forced her snout out to take her first breath. All the new and exciting scents flooded her olfactory chambers, which determined her to escape the egg and explore the Cretaceous world. She still couldn't see though, incapable of going anywhere But she knew she will soon, and waited for two days. During the time of waiting, the scents of countless more objects around her made it more exciting to see. She discovered mother and father and meat, and after the two days were done, she popped open her bright yellow eyes to absorbed the sensation of sight.

Plop! A huge slab of meat, twice her size, is dropped from the sky, or at least, mother. She sniffs the red hunk of flesh and alarms go off in her brain._ Food!Food!Eat!. _She grabs at it with her jaws and tears off a throat tube. She swallows and eats more, tearing and ripping until satisfaction is in her belly. She looks along her muzzle and sees a streak of bright red. Her parents too have this streak, but they differ a little. She downloads this data in the giant computer brain she has, and the color of blood.

A day later, another egg was moving and started to crack. When the chick came out, a female _half-of-me_ stepped up, blind like she used to be. She imprinted her as sister, and sniffed her once.This new chick sniffed her too, and bit her muzzle, causing slight pain. When she broke away, she could see that her teeth were a bit large for regular size. Even compared to her's which are still growing. She blinks once and decides to think of her sister as, Fang.

Later in the week, two more siblings hatched, and smelt slightly similar to father. She recognized them as brothers and tried to see if they had any physical differences. The first brother to come had presumably large killing claws. She named him Sickle. The other one didn't have that much strikingly strange or noticeable, but when he stood up he was already taller than the rest of them. This was courtesy of his long legs and shins, which indicate great running power, so she named him Speed.

She wondered to herself is she had anything different than normal Utahraptor chicks. After her brothers and sister opened their eyes, she could see they showed her a bit of respect. She then began to learn this was not because she is the oldest, but her streak of red is brighter, wider, and more powerful than the rest. "My red...bigger...more color...I...am...Raptor Red".

That was the first week of four hatching chicks. The next four went on the same. Group fights on who eats more, one chick bothering another and then the other two, or just fighting for fun. But now, it's night. And everyone is asleep. The next morning, father gets up by himself and begins his morning hunt. Having the advantage of waking up early allows him to kill off unsuspecting prey and bring it back before the pack stirs. He flexes his ankles and walks east of the nest. Unfortunately, Red inherited this trait, and follows him, not knowing she's there. He comes across a clearing where a herd of Iguanodon are sleeping, some beginning to wake and graze. He knows he can't take on and sleeping Iguanodon right now. Especially if the sentry catches him and it wakes up to trample his bones. But if he can get one of the awake ones straying from the group, it'll never see the sunrise again.

An hour later, when most of the herd is up and running, he spots an ideal target, near the trees of the forest growth he's in. He stealthily runs around a few 50 meters, and stopswhen the bull is practically in front of him. Now Red fell asleep during the first half hour of waiting, and now wakes up, but walks to the clearing and is spotted by the sentry. It gives out a loud bellow and most of the adults start to run in panic. Towards the father.

He doesn't know what's going on, and is rammed by a cow and her calves. The rest of them steam roll over his body, crushing and smashing his bones and insides. The mother arrives to see what's happened, and sees her mate is dead on the ground, squished into the mud. The other chicks see their killed father, and whimper loudly. The mother stares for a while, and turns to the nest, with Red standing alone. Not believing what has been done.

XXXXX

Another month has gone by and the chicks are now juveniles. Their kills are almost always successful, making them feel proud and worthy of future challenges. Sadly, no kill or hunt will ever prepare them for the death of today. The pack is heading westward to a newer land with different environments. They stop for a drink, when Red starts to feel itchy. Her siblings do also, and they scratch at themselves. The mother knows it is ticks they are scratching at and leads them to a lake of bubbly mud. She herself has the parasites and knows this will help.

They wade into the bursting lake one by one, and wait for the bugs to fall off. The juveniles have been in there so long they are covered in brown muck. They stay in there lazily, but the mother gets out to lay in the sun.

_Whoosh!_

A giant set of jaws picks her up and snaps her backbone and the Acrocanthosaurus carries her away. The chicks see this, but were too scared to move. That night, they make a temporary nest and lie down, in a big huddle. Each one is awake even till midnight knowing. Their parents are dead. They are alone in the world. But they must never...ever...separate.

**X_X_X_X_X **

**More to come! I hope you all like it! **


	2. Speed and Deinonychus

**I own nothing.**

**X_X_X_X**

It's been a month since their death. The pack has made precautionary steps to adulthood. They are physically well and healthy, if not abnormally better. But they are undetermined. They have driven away other raptors and animals away, and are feared by most of the herbivores. Their depression inside causes rage and they take it out when making a kill. Even the most Sauropods fear them. They are strong, and they know it. But nothing helps their pain.

Red being the leader and the most social and caring, tries to cheer her sad siblings. She herself is sad, but is strong willed. Fang and Sickle though, are more aggressive than the other two and usually fight each other to settle their depression. At first she tries to stop them. But learned to deal with it. As long as they don't actually injure one another. Their instincts tell them to head south.

Along the way, they meet up with a friend. The Whit Dactyl. He alerts them for any danger and in return, gets a share of the kills. It's a typical law of nature of interacting with other carnivores. In two weeks, they reach what is now North America. They spread out to scout the area within the next few miles. Then they regroup with no reports of danger. They head farther out west and come to a rest.

They will stay here for the next few weeks. It is a small enclosure surrounded by 20-foot hills, like a giant bowl. Red prepares a nesting site, gathering leaves and dried grass for bedding. Fang and Sickle stay at the top of the hills, looking out for danger and nearby herds. Speed finds a pond close by and drinks. They have not come across a lot of water sources not crowded from other dinosaurs. And being the fastest and one who runs the most, he needs more water.

He glugs down the water to freshen his system, unaware of a pair of eyes from just above the surface. It is a crocodile. Not just any crocodile. A Deinosuchus. This is an early species, so smaller, but still bigger than a Utahraptor. It dives deeper and slowly approaches. He is still drinking, almost reaching his fill.

Splash! The giant croc shoots out the water and opens it's jaws. He sees this, and sidesteps, barely dodging 10 inch teeth. It swings it's tail to the side which slams into him, making him trip. The Deinosuchus then grabs his left leg and shakes. He cries out in pain and the other three run up to see what's going on. They are shocked to see a giant alligator biting into their sibling's leg.

SKRAK! Fang and Sickle work as a duo and jump on it.

Sickle slices up the croc with his giant killing claws and Fang bites down hard on the croc's skull. It feels the pain of it's side and head and tries to retreat. But then Red rams into it, pushing it over and the three attack it's vulnerable underside. It's body stops moving, but it's mind is still going, looking at it's killers, before it dies.

They ignore the body and go over to their brother. He is alive. But a long gnash along his leg bleeds openly. He can still walk, but limps. Running is something he can't do now. Red carries him to the nest and the other two bring back half the carcass.

Red licks his wound gently, and Sickle tries to keep him upright. Fang brings over the croc's liver, and drops it lightly in front of him. He bends to sniff it, and picks up the still warm flesh to swallow.

He needs the liver for the nutrition if he wants to get better. Much less stay alive.

The next day, Red wakes up early again. She goes over to the Deinosuchus body and takes a few bites. Then she looks over the pack. Fang and Sickle are on both sides of Speed, who looks hurt even when sleeping. She goes up the hillsides and views the horizon. The sun is barely up, far away.

She hears a rustle beyond the other side. In the direction of yesterday's kill. She walks around the top and tries to look. A large pack of Deinonychus are making a lot of noise eating from the other half of the croc left yesterday.

She knows they will be done in a few days, and might attack. She hopes her brother's leg is better soon. Then they could either continue to move on, or defend against the smaller raptors.

She goes back down to the nest and sleeps again lightly. a few hours later, the rest of the pack are awake and rowdy. Fang and Sickle are wrestling again, and Speed tries out his leg. Still hurt, still bleeding. Red sighs and sees the pain in his eyes as he looks at the wound.

Walking is okay, but is hard to put weight on it. She goes over to nudge her snout on his back, suggesting to sit down. He refuses and continues walking up the slope. She goes up after him and so do the other three. They have decided to keep a close eye on him. Only one is a bit risky, so the whole group watches over him. They follow him down the hill and he does his 'business'.

Red and Fang did it earlier, but Sickle doesn't eat a lot so doesn't go often. They keep a watchful eye around the area, just incase the Deinoch's get too curious. After he's done, he wants to go on a walk. Red goes to the front, Sickle helps him walk, and Fang stays behind. They guard him like soliders, coordinated and lethal. After a few hours, he wants to go back, and they turn.

But on their return they see the Deinochs have raided their nest and took it over. There are already at least twenty little Deinochs sitting in their nest. Three Utahraptors against twenty Deinonychus is easy. But not when they're protecting another.

They surrender the nest and Red takes Speed to turn back. Fang and Sickle however, aren't giving up so easily. They hated the smaller raptors ever since day one. Besides the Acros, they're mortal enemies.

They charge head on roaring and flailing their arms. This catches them off guard and the Deinoch's freeze.

Fang takes two in her mouth and flings them into a group of five before they can react. Then they both attack the 7 Deinochs killing them in a matter of seconds.

Three jump onto them, and scratch viscously. But they get shaken off and kicked into some others.

Sickle takes one of his abnormally huge claws and slices through six of them in a single sweep.

Then Fang jumps on two, driving killing claws through the chests, and picks up three more, both hands and mouth. She crushes their tiny bodies and throws them at the remaining Deinochs who flee as Sickle chases them off to the edge forest.

After all the carnage is over, they let out a fierce roar and pant heavily. Other than multiple slashes and bites, they are fine. They lie down next to the now sleeping Speed, and Red knows what to do to prevent future Deinoch attacks.

She takes each dead Deinoch body and slices off the heads. She places the heads around the bases of the hillsides and scatters the bodies. This will discourage them from attacking for a while. And hopefully, all other Deinochs until they decay. She hopes it all works out so her family may be safe. But it's just too hard to think that looking at them.

A brother with a giant wound on one leg. And two siblings damaged by a number of Deinochs. She hates the tiny raptors. Next time, she'll kill them too.

**X_X_X_X**

**There is no real early Deinosuchus species.**


	3. Turtles and Floods

**Sorry for not updating much. Really lazy.**

The pack has succeeded another kill. It's only an Astrodon calf, but it's progress. The past few weeks weren't easy. Ten days ago, a Deinoch came too close to the pack and Sickle jumped him. But picking it up alive and kicking resulted in a deep scar along his muzzle and another under his jaw. Nothing serious. But it hurts to open wide. He'll manage. Speed's leg is recovering, but is still bad. He can walk with little pain, but can't run. The sister's haven't been severely hurt or damaged, except for when they see their brothers in pain.

They feast on the the carcass as each one takes a limb from the dead Astro.

An hour later, the pack rests in the shade, Red staying up for lookout. She sees a few Deinoch's at the edge of the forest and she charges, flailing and screaming.

They retreat and she turns back to the pack. But before she lies down, she looks over the horizon. Dark clouds gathering over the valley miles away. Still too far to cause trouble now, but still, Red feels uncomfortable.

She doesn't like rain.

Sure drizzles and casual water droplets are fine, but she doesn't like storms. She has feared storms as a chick when she saw even huge Iguanodons blinded by hard rain and trip over to be trampled or stumble into another predator's territory.

The pack itself has done that a few times. But Red stays behind a bit and waits till the water subsides before coming out to join them.

She sighs and continues lower her body to the ground. She nestles herself right next to Fang and thinks to herself._ Big dark clouds. Bad. But those... Bigger... Darker... Louder... Scarier..._

Night has fallen.

Fang wakes up for a bit, and it feels strange. She usually sleeps through the whole night almost impossible to wake until day. But she felt the loss of heat near her side and a rustling louder than her snoring by the pond.

She sees Red fumbling with something. It's sort of an oval shape and she drops it. After another drop, she bites it and a tooth falls out. Fang watches her sister playing with the strange object and gets curious. She gets up, careful not to wake the other two, and walks silently to her confused sibling. She sees what she has.

It's a turtle.

Not a dead one like she usually finds. But a real live turtle. She still seen a few live though, but apparently her sister never has.

She sees her sister has no experience with the hard outer bodies and sits in front of her.

She bobs her head twice sideways as if to say _You're doing it wrong. Let me see._ She understands and blinks, curious of the 'right' way to do it and plops the turtle in front of her feet and watches her sister.

Fang reaches down and gently places her jaws around the hard reptile. Then she gracefully holds it with both hands, placing the claws inside the holes. If she were human, it'd look like she'd be having a sandwich. Then she slowly wedges the small animal to be closer to the back of her mouth.

But still, Red is amazed. Her sister is usually the short tempered type. She's never seen her act so patient. That thought is now gone as Fang bites down hard on the turtle and _loud _crack is heard. A few teeth fall out and she drops it.

The only difference is a that the teeth made marks but now fell. Red is just about to think her sister is about to go crazy on the little turtle as Fang stands up.

But instead, she takes her sharp claws and slices away at the edges that connect the upper and lower pieces. They were already cracked from her bite, and now they have no hope. She succeeds and snaps off the top shell. She nudges it to Red and bobs her head. _That's how you do it_.

If she could, Red would smile. She gulps down the fleshy meat and waits for taste. It's kind of salty, but not too much. It's different from dead decaying ones. She discards the shells and the two return to the nest.

As Red lies down, she looks at her siblings. A family as wonderful as this. She wish it would be like this forever.

Till the next night.

Speed's tail is cold. No, wet. In fact, both. He opens one eye and turns his head to look at it. It's just out of the tree's leaves and is drenched from the rain and laying in the water. It rained hard all day so the pack had no choice but to choose another site with more refuge and height to calm Red's nerves.

_Nothing. Back to sleep. _He closes the eye when a jolt of thought rushes through his mind. _Wait, Pond is over there. And we're on a hill. So... _

His body jerks up and sees that the hill is surrounded by water and is now seeping up his toes.

SKRAWWK!

He alerts the sleeping members and they slowly awake. Fang and Sickle squel in shock and Red can only tremble.

The whole area is flooded. The deep long ditch that has been dry for years is now an active river. In one day, the eroded crack in the earth has become a monsoon. Red sees the water left, right, and above. She loses her nerve and spins around, knocking Speed into the water.

The other two are pumped with worry and dive in to help the injured sibling. But swimming like this is hard and they can't reach back to the nest. Now the water has risen to her ankles and she's splashing around helplessly.

She finally jumps to her siblings and they try to hold up Speed. She holds onto him and The other two try evading the group from crashing into tall rocks and fallen trees.

They reach the edge of a big branch that leads to a higher point in the land. The whole pack tries it's best to reach it. They wade out to the low branches and try to climb. But not Red. She never tried climbing. She looks to her left and sees Sickle can't climb either.

The two just stay near the bottom, as Speed and Fang advance upwards. Speed's leg is fine because he steps his injured foot on the same places where the other one previously dug into.

Now the currents get faster and they can't hold on. Sickle finally tries, and Red sees the other two made it to the edge of the clifftop. She decides to try.

She is about to grab the trunk, but a log comes tumbling towards her and collides. She loses grip and is sent down the current.

Away from the tree. Away from land. Away from her family. Into the darkness of the night, where many other dinosaur screams are heard.

But frozen in fear and shock, the rest of the pack can only watch her drift into that darkness. The sight, smell, and sounds of all the creatures swept at bay are overwhelming each other's out. But out of all the ear splitting screams combined in the night...

They can only hear one.


	4. Washed up in Europe

**Sorry for not updating much. Really lazy.**

**X_X_X_X**

Red begins to come to her senses, but is too drained to even open her eyes. Tiny fragments of memory slowly wade their way into her sub-conscious mind of the storm. The log that had collided her to separate her from her beloved pack was the only thing that kept her alive as she grasped it with her claws and remaining strength It seemed to last forever, as she remembers the sun and moon to rise and fall numerous times.

The sudden thought of many passing days without food causes an earthquake in her stomach. No food and no water, she wonders how she managed to live. But now, she's completely immobile. The only thing Red's even capable of is taste the disgusting sea-salt sand and feel the mud and debris of her terror latch itself to her soaked skin.

She decides it's no use and tries to go to sleep again. Maybe never wake up. Her family is gone anyway. The storm was so brutal that they must be miles apart. She can't even identify the scent of the environment she's in right now, other than being a beach shore.

The Utahraptor has just about given up all hope when a familiar smell drifts to her nostrils, a scent able to open her eyes.

A huge dead fish lies two feet from her head. Her mouth waters at the thought of having food in her gullet, but obviously it's fishy. And not just the smell of it, but something definitely isn't right. The meal looks about an hour old and there isn't a fly or scavenger beetle in sight. What kind of place is this?

A quick glance around and she sees no one around. In fact, not a single bird chirp and it's already midday. Well not best to let it go to waste. She snatches the meal with her jaws and swallows it whole. A strange taste indeed. But it makes her feel quite better.

But that feeling is interrupted when a snap comes from the edge of the trees. Frozen, she slowly moves her eyes up a bit and sees a strange creature staring at her. A carnivore that looks pretty tall to her. And a smear of blood covering it's extremely long and elongated jaws become more visible as it approaches in slow strides.

_Well if i'm to die, it's to help another fill it's belly_. She closes her eyes tight and waits to be killed by the blood stained snout nearing her. She can feel the breathing of the predator and she squeezes her eyes so tight she feels tears come out._ Any second... _

Red can smell the odor of the dinosaur's rancid stench of decaying fish flow over her nostrils. Her olfactory glands go crazy with the urge to rip open this predator's belly and retreat, but she's too helpless now.

A minute has passed and she's still not harmed. Confused and curious, she slightly lifts an eyelid and gets a glimpse of the beast towering above her. The jaws are so long, it's head looks far away. The monstrous jaws open a little and the creature gives off a growling hiss. A light drool drips on her muzzle.

_I'm not going to hurt you_. The growl forms into speech in Red's mind and she opens her eyes fully to look at this creature. A closer look at it and she sees it has another fish in it's hands, which has a large claw resembling the killing claw of the raptors. But this thing has it on it's hands. _Strange indeed._

The creature drops the fish onto the ground and eyes her. She sees it's stare and cautiously picks up the fish, unable to resist. After she swallows it, the creature ceases staring with a suspicious gaze and 'sits' on the sand.

Baryonyx, a phiscivorous dinosaur only a little bit larger than Utahraptor. Red, having some energy now, stands up, ignoring the pain in her legs, and slowly circles the Baryonyx. To show no threat, she hides her hand claws and keeps her mouth closed in a non-hostile posture. She sees it id definitely bigger than her. It sits upright like a raptor, but puts it's arms on the ground, too, for support. A few deep whiffs tell her that it's an adult male, maybe a year and a half older than her.

She decides to give him a little name for the time being. The first thing that comes to her mind is 'Stripe' because of the black line marking over it's eyes on the green-blue skin. Stripe notices her observing him and starts to get up and head for the trees.

Red herself follows. She knows it might be dangerous, but she guesses she can at least trust the new creature if it hasn't killed her yet, and actually fed her. Plus being lonely in a new place after just losing her family would be too traumatic all at one time. Following him is probably the best option. And even if he tries to attack her, he doesn't look very fast and there's a lot of trees for cover.

_Why not? _Red walks a safe distance away from Stripe while still staying near him. The Baryonyx looks back at her and grunts in annoyance. Not that he doesn't enjoy her company, but at least she's quiet. He continues down the trees till he come to a clearing with a stream going through, and a large rocky cave-shelter. At first glance it seems like a normal part of the forest with water running in, but it seems this must be Stripe's permanent home.

Before long, she rushes to the stream of fresh water and laps it up to over quench her thirst. Now up to 30% of health, a nice meal and long nap should have her going in no time. Looking at her companion, he sees him staring motionless in the water. Before she can figure out what he's doing...

Splash!

She covers her eyes to avoid flying liquid getting in them and sees a large, wriggling fish in his two deadly hand claws. Then he bites it down till it moves no more, and begins to eat.

Red has now about figured he isn't exactly a meat eater judging by the many fish bones lying around thickly covering the stream side. So then the claws on his hands shouldn't be that much of a weapon either, but she doesn't want to find that out herself. Eating just fish isn't exactly her idea of a meal, so she tries sniffing, hearing, whatever she can to find another food source. Her attention is brought to the right where a scuffling is heard and leaves fall from bushes.

Stalking the growth, she moves towards it and catches a glimpse of another animal looking her in the eyes. Red attacks, too quick for the animal to get away, and is killed instantly when she bites it's windpipe. A young, Iguanodon-ish dinosaur lies dead at her feet. It bears a striking resemblance to the Iguanodons she grew to hunt, but with minor differences.

This is a Dollodon. A juvenile less than half her size. But big enough for her belly. She savagely rips it open, spilling entrails and pools of blood. Feasting upon this animal is already warming her tummy and satisfying her tastebuds. She looks over at Stripe to see if he wants any. But all she sees is a terrified Baryonyx, staring at her with wide eyes. His gaze is uncomfortable and strange to see him look like that. She feels uneasy and lifts an organ with hand claws and walks to him.

Red offers the meat to Stripe, and his stare goes from frightened to suspicious with dilated pupils. She tries caringly nudging it closer onto his snout, and he slowly takes it before swallowing whole. His uneasy gaze is gone and she feels better. She goes back to the carcass and eats again. At the corner of her eye, she can still see him staring at her, with a timid look. Not as much as first, but noticeable.

Night falls and Red yawns while staring at the stars. She sits in the clearing above the stream while Stripe lies in the rock shelter. Strange way of sleeping. No leaves or soft under growth. Just sand and stones with a stony structure. Feeling tired, she stands and goes to the edge of the trees to gather large leaves and place them neatly two yards from Stripe's shelter.

After enough soft plants cover the hardy surface, Red lies on the nest she has made and curls to sleep. It's just a tad uncomfy, but not that much of a bother. She can hear Stripe's light snoring from the shelter. It reminds her of Speed.

_Speed._ The name of her injured brother brings back thoughts of her family again. Were they allright? Are they separated from each other too? Are they _alive?_ All of sudden, Red starts to feel shaky and she can even make out a warm tear drop roll down her cheek, onto her claws. Tremors go through her body as images of her siblings pass in her mind. A rumbling in her stomach, either hunger or uneasiness.

Curling tighter to help the pain, she tries to lull herself to sleep. Chills go down her spine and she realizes how cold she is. The breeze has picked up and chill factor rises faster. Red almost thinks she's gonna freeze to death, when a heavy, large object covers her body. Opening her eyes, she can't believe what she is seeing.

Stripe lies ontop of her, his head silhouetted by the moon. He must have thought she was cold and saw the danger of her health and decided to be a blanket. His warmth is already spreading throughout her body and she can feel the breathing that reminds her of an injured brother. Looking at his eyes, he can see a glint of compassion looking down at her, before closing and fully asleep. Feeling a sense of safety and glee, she herself dozes and waits for sleep to take her in.

**X_X_X_X**

**Woohoo! Haven't worked on this in a while!**


End file.
